Stephen Young
@atomicwonk.bsky.social
Advocate for more sensible nuclear weapons policies, firm believer that we should not live in a world where hundreds of millions could be dead in an hour. Associate Director for Government Affairs, Global Security Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the Union of Concerned Scientists, the NNSA chose to fully redact an unclassified summary of a recent, congressionally mandated, study on the aging of plutonium in the United States’ nuclear arsenal.
NNSA Fully Redacts Vital Documents on Nuclear Weapon Cores
The NNSA fully redacted a study on plutonium aging in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, in response to a FOIA request from UCS
ucs.org
Today in 1982, an estimated 750,000-1,000,000 people marched through New York City from the United Nations to Central Park to demand a US-Soviet freeze on testing, production, and deployment of new, dangerous, and expensive nuclear weapons—at the time, the largest political protest in US history.
My colleague @gkucs.bsky.social interviewed officials from multiple countries a different points during the recent NPT Review Conference in NY. His takeaway: "The nuclear weapons states thwarted every effort to hold them accountable" for their failure to disarm, as mandated by the treaty.
Nuclear Injustice in New York
What happened at this year's review conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons?
blog.ucs.org
Daniel Ellsberg, famed releaser of the Pentagon Papers and long-time advocate for eliminating the threat of nuclear war, is the subject of the movie "An Ordinary Insanity," which is having on on-line premier Thursday, June 4. Sign up below to see it.
AN ORDINARY INSANITY - Official Film Site
Renowned whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg provides a powerful wake-up call about the danger of nuclear war and how we can reduce the threat.
anordinaryinsanity.com
Late in 2025 I saw a presentation on philanthropic contributions to various issues, which gave the following numbers for these issues: $10B — climate change $900M — AI safety $200M — biological threats $45M — nuclear security To just give a sense of orders of magnitudes...
@radiofreetom.bsky.social, look what crossed my YouTube feed. Release date is supposedly 28 July. youtu.be/4U5Zb0fqimA?...
SURVIVORS: THE SPECTRE OF THREADS (2026) TRAILER
YouTube video by Severin Films / Intervision Picture Corp.
youtu.be
“The claim that we need new pits just to maintain a safe and reliable arsenal just doesn’t hold water,” scientist Dylan Spaulding wrote... “The reality is NNSA has thousands of existing plutonium pits in reserve and should investigate options for re-use before one more pit is produced.”
Nuclear watchdogs toured a planned SC plutonium plant. Here's what they saw. • SC Daily Gazette
Nuclear watchdogs received a rare tour of a partially built plutonium recycling facility at South Carolina’s federal nuclear site.
scdailygazette.com
Trump's proposed 2027 budget almost doubles spending on new plutonium pits. New factories, new designs .... new weapons
Trump Wants to Double Production of New Nuclear Weapon Cores
The new proposed budget slashes money for environmental cleanup and calls to double the production of cores for nuclear weapons.
404media.co
Check out this video based on an article UCS Global Security Program Senior Scientist Dylan Spaulding was interviewed for on plutonium pit production issues. You can make a difference: pledge to be a voice for peace and science.
Pledge to Be a Voice for Peace and Science
In 2026 the National Nuclear Security Administration will begin accepting public comments on their draft environmental impact statement addressing the production of new plutonium pits, the explosive c...
secure.ucs.org
404 Media@404media.co · 4mo agoTrump’s proposed 2027 budget would almost double the budget for plutonium pits, the chemical filled metal sphere inside a nuclear warhead that kicks off the explosion in a nuclear weapon. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Story by @mjgault.bsky.social: www.404media.co/trump-2027-b...
“It’s disappointing to see the NNSA pushing out a legal fig leaf, with what amounts to a belated justification for decisions taken years before, which violates the intent and purpose of such analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act.”
U.S. Nuclear Agency Releases Environmental Impact Statement, a “Legal Fig Leaf” for Plutonium Pit Program Decisions
The NNSA released its draft environmental impact statement for production of plutonium pits for nuclear weapons, UCS calls it a "legal fig leaf"
ucs.org
"Guetlein said external groups are 'not estimating what I’m building.'...'It sure would be good to get that estimation you have,' Carbajal replied, adding that 'to my understanding, we have not seen that whatsoever.'” aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/lawmakers-se...
Lawmakers seek more details, cost information from Golden Dome program manager
aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org
The United States Can Still Reach the Stars. President Trump’s New Budget Can’t. Via The Equation from the @ucs.org by Scoville Fellow ’25 Sean Manning. blog.ucs.org/sean-manning...
The United States Can Still Reach the Stars. President Trump’s New Budget Can't.
NASA is attempting to return humans to the moon at the same time that its budget is being slashed. The military, meanwhile, gets a huge increase.
blog.ucs.org
Yes, it seems like a really good idea when the President is threatening countries with armageddon for the NRC to end agency-led security drills at #nuclear plants.
US Nuclear Counter-Terrorism Inspections Weakened as NRC Loses Independence
US Nuclear Power Inspections Weakened, Significant National Security and Counter-Terrorism Concerns with Loss of NRC Independence
ucs.org
Talk about a Good Friday news dump: the NRC has quietly voted to phase out the crucial, force-on-force security inspections that have helped ensure #nuclear plants remain protected against terrorist attacks since the aftermath of 9/11. Worst NRC ever. www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2609/...
nrc.gov
I'll believe it when I see it, but it is nevertheless good to hear the head of the program saying this publicly now, before too many commitments have been made and too much taxpayer money has been wasted. Congress (read: Democrats) need to hold him to this unequivocal declaration in the years ahead.
Stephen Young@atomicwonk.bsky.social · 4mo agoToday Gen. Guetlein, head of Trump's infeasible, wildy expensive Golden Dome anti-missile program, said this: "If boost phase intercept from space is not affordable and scalable, we will not produce it because we have other options to get after it.” armedservices.house.gov/calendar/eve...
Today Gen. Guetlein, head of Trump's infeasible, wildy expensive Golden Dome anti-missile program, said this: "If boost phase intercept from space is not affordable and scalable, we will not produce it because we have other options to get after it.” armedservices.house.gov/calendar/eve...
Hearings | House Armed Services Committee
The purpose of this hearing is to receive updates on Department of Defense missile defense and defeat programs, and review the associated policy, priorities, and requirements.
armedservices.house.gov
Tucker Carlson: "It's vile. It begins w/ a promise to use the US military to commit a war crime. Those people who are in direct contact w/ the president need to say 'No. I'll resign. I'll do whatever I can do legally to stop this, bc this is insane. And if given the order, I'm not carrying it out'"
First unalloyed pushback from a Senate Republican is, unsurprisingly, from Lisa Murkowski.
Apparently some are not familiar with the story: Croesus of Lydia asked the Oracle what would happen once he attacked Iran. Oracle predicted: "a great civilization will die". Of course it turned out that the one that died was Lydia, not Iran. Seems relevant...
Jonathan McDowell@planet4589.bsky.social · 4mo agoAnyone else getting strong Croesus-at-the-Oracle-of-Delphi vibes from this statement?
AOC: “This is a threat of genocide & merits removal from office. The President’s mental faculties are collapsing & cannot be trusted. To every individual in the President’s chain of command: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders. That includes carrying out this threat”
The reason that the US President has the exclusive authority to order the use of nuclear weapons is because Truman set up the system along those lines after WWII. This is often depicted as either a power grab, or because in the nuclear age such decisions "must" be made quickly. This is false.
Nancy Pelosi has called for President Trump to be removed from office
This is my favorite climate change chart. Japanese monks, aristocrats, and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years and accidentally built the world's longest climate dataset.
My @scovillepf.bsky.social felllow @seantmanning.bsky.social critiques Trump’s proposal to further militarize the US government
Union of Concerned Scientists@ucs.org · 4mo agoThe White House has released its 2027 budget proposal – including an astonishing $1.5 trillion in military spending, an unprecedented increase of 66% over the previous year. 🧵
The White House has released its 2027 budget proposal – including an astonishing $1.5 trillion in military spending, an unprecedented increase of 66% over the previous year. 🧵
Trump’s Proposed Military Spending Would Be a “Bloody New Deal”
If passed and sustained, President Trump’s new defense budget could become the largest discretionary spending increase in modern US history.
blog.ucs.org
WE KEEP US SAFE 3/28/2026 Burnside Bridge Portland, Oregon No Kings protest (Photo: @blcksmthapparel.bsky.social) #nokings #pdx #blcksmth
UCS’s Kendall Fellow Sara Al-Sayed provides historical context on US and Israeli efforts to advance their interests in the Middle East as a necessary foundation for any debate regarding nuclear security in the region. Learn what’s at stake and the multilateral efforts needed for a lasting peace:
The US–Israeli History Behind Their War Against Iran
Any debates about nuclear security in the Middle East need to be set within the broader historical context of US and Israeli efforts to advance their interests in the region.
blog.ucs.org
A good take on the context of the war in Iran by Sara Al-Sayed for @ucs.org - The US–Israeli History Behind Their War Against Iran blog.ucs.org/sara-al-saye...
The US–Israeli History Behind Their War Against Iran
Any debates about nuclear security in the Middle East need to be set within the broader historical context of US and Israeli efforts to advance their interests in the region.
blog.ucs.org
My amazing @scovillepf.bsky.social @seantmanning.bsky.social has a new @ucs.org piece on what he appropriately calls Trump's "Bloody New Deal," i.e., his proposal to dump $1.5 trillion into military spending, a massive 66% increase. See: blog.ucs.org/sean-manning...
Trump’s Proposed Military Spending Would Be a “Bloody New Deal”
If passed and sustained, President Trump’s new defense budget could become the largest discretionary spending increase in modern US history.
blog.ucs.org
The most effective way to ensure that the HEU has not been diverted for weapons use is through a diplomatic agreement in which Israel & the US would forswear further attacks, and Iran would provide all the information and access to fully account for the stockpile. thebulletin.org/2025/07/iran...
Iran can still build nuclear weapons without further enrichment. Only diplomacy will stop it
Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched at 60 percent would be enough to make several relatively unsophisticated nuclear weapons. So why does nobody talk about it?
thebulletin.org